This is a political forum that is non-biased/non-partisan and treats every persons position on topics equally. This debate forum is not aligned to any political party. In today's politics, many ideas are split between and even within all the political parties. Often we find ourselves agreeing on one platform but some topics break our mold. We are here to discuss them in a civil political debate. If this is your first visit to our political forums, be sure to check out the FAQ and RULES. Registering for debate politics is necessary before posting. Register today to participate and remove the ads - it's free!

View Poll Results: Click the one item that best describes your preference

Re: Are you racially biased?

So if we just stop talking about hunger, will hungry people magically receive food?

Originally Posted by Gaius46

We all have preferences. We all have biases. It's hardwired into us and there is no escaping it. The issue is whether we act on them in acceptable ways or not.

I used to think this way. But I had to realize that there is a fatal flaw to this reasoning: Racism is a system or a set of systems created by humans. It is not a set of attitudes, no matter how loudly many whites will howl to the contrary. This means that there was a time in human history when there was little or no white-on-black racism, and it should not be a difficult exercise to find out approximately when these systems were created.

"A man you can bait with a tweet is not a man we can trust with nuclear weapons." --Hillary Rodham Clinton
"Innocent until proven guilty is for criminal convictions, not elections." --Mitt Romney

Re: Are you racially biased?

Originally Posted by matchlight

This test seems like junk science. No test like this can look into a person's heart. Someone might easily feel superficial prejudice against a certain race, which a test might detect, and yet not treat people of that race at all badly. It's actions hat count--I don't see why a person's thoughts or attitudes about race matter much. It's not as if anyone in this country could express his views by voting for racially discriminatory government measures. And when it comes to personal dealings, rather than laws, anyone has a perfect right to discriminate by race all he wants.

It's not attempting to look into the heart, it's looking into preference which may be environmental, which may be social, which may be a lot of things. It's actually anything BUT junk science.

Re: Are you racially biased?

Originally Posted by OrphanSlug

The tests all seem to be problematic, they seem to freeze somewhere in the middle of testing, and not a one of them I was able to complete.

To the OP point, we can test all day and end up with basically neutral conclusions based on how we answered the questions but I would offer that it is a practical impossibility to be completely unbiased in all of its forms. We can get pretty damn close through some combination of education, self discipline, social and logical understanding, empathy, general willingness, etc. but I suspect there will always be work to do just to get us to various levels of achieved social cohesion.

I manage a large dispersed team. And by dispersed I mean geographically (across the US, Europe, East Asia and India), temporally (I have staff working all the time) as well as by age (24 through 68), race and ethnicity. I'm not uncommon in that respect in my company or probably in any large global organization. As such I take "diversity and inclusion" training once a year, the goal of that being to be able to effectively work with and manage people who are radically different from me, a middle aged white guy.

For the last few years the classes have always been prefaced with the fact that we are biased and never be unbiased. There are loads of recent studies pointing to the fact that we all have innate preferences for those we identify with. Those are natural and largely unavoidable. From an organizational standpoint that means differing opinions and outlooks which, when managed correctly make for much better decision making.

Re: Are you racially biased?

Originally Posted by Phys251

So if we just stop talking about hunger, will hungry people magically receive food?

I used to think this way. But I had to realize that there is a fatal flaw to this reasoning: Racism is a system or a set of systems created by humans. It is not a set of attitudes, no matter how loudly many whites will howl to the contrary. This means that there was a time in human history when there was little or no white-on-black racism, and it should not be a difficult exercise to find out approximately when these systems were created.

Bias and racism aren't the same thing. Bias is simply preference. Racism is the belief that one race is inherently superior to others. I can have a bias for living among other Italians without being racist.

Re: Are you racially biased?

My two wire connection wouldn't load the test. I am more comfortable with whites. In our area, the blacks are from NYC half way houses and have been moved here for rehab and as a way of getting them out of the city, I guess. They're certainly not the average blacks. Mostly the ones from NYC have criminal histories and drug problems.

Re: Are you racially biased?

Personally, socially, I could care less what color people are as long as they act decent.

But, I do have some "hard-wired" racial issues I suppose. For example, as pretty as a black woman might be, I have never found them to be sexually attractive. That is not something I seem to have control over. Not saying they are unattractive. Just saying they don't "turn my screws," if you know what I mean. But I got no problem with anyone who has inter-racial relationships. If I was turned on, then it wouldn't make no never mind to me. But, I'm just not.

But I love diversity in life. Imagine if all the trees looked the same. Everybody drove the same car. How boring would that be? I embrace diversity and make every effort to be all-inclusive. Except when it comes to things I have no control over like what does or does not turn me on.

It's GREAT to be me. --- "45% liberal/55% conservative" Diplomacy is the art of saying 'nice doggy" until you can find a gun.

Re: Are you racially biased?

It's not attempting to look into the heart, it's looking into preference which may be environmental, which may be social, which may be a lot of things. It's actually anything BUT junk science.

If you say so. But what is the purpose of a test like this, if not to reveal that this country is full of covert racism that government should take steps to eliminate? I am sure that most professors like the ones responsible for this test are leftists who favor more government action against race discrimination by private individuals.